Thursday, September 10, 2009

Ode to Knitty.com

Indigirl tweeted in my ear yesterday that we should support Knitty.com with stories of how the website has changed our lives. That might sound like a strange request, but it didn't seem very strange to me once I started thinking about it. So, here's how Knitty changed me for the better:

I moved back to Canada in 2006 after living for a number of years in the UK. I thought, hey, I've got some unique work experience. I'll get a job no problem. Just a matter of time...

After four months of waiting and working a few odd jobs here and there, I applied for a job as the Event Coordinator at my local Michaels. At the time, I was starting my Etsy shop, and thought that, apart from having some cash, it would be great to get the discount so I could build my supply stash (hmm, that's another story yet again...).

The neat thing about Michaels is that it's full of people who know how to make EVERYTHING. Want to paint? Sure! The girl in the frameshop has a class. Cardmaking? Of course! Scrapbooking? Fuggedabahdit. Knitting? Go talk to Fran.

So, I talked to Fran. I already knew how to crochet, so the transition was relatively easy. I trawled through the patterns in the yarn section (I did this on work time, since it was part of my job to put them out), and chose a few things I wanted to make. One fateful day, a customer left an old copy of Vogue Knitting in the store, and it ended up in my classroom.

Well, that was it. I had to make everything in that magazine. I just needed to know how.

Enter knittinghelp.com. I learned a ton from this site (and still do). And, while looking through all the sections, I entered the free pattern section and found Indigirl's Rosedale pattern on Knitty.

I know. Ironic, huh?

Ok, so what's the big deal? Well, what surprised me most about Knitty was how homey the website felt. (Yes, I feel websites.) I felt like the people who ran the thing really got that I was hungry for the hip and beautiful stuff they offered. I read every single article, even emailed a few of the designers on the first day. And they replied the next day. These people shared my hunger, my need to try everything, to learn and to create.

Knitty changed me from a girl who wanted to knit into a knitter. I read and worked through enough of those patterns to know what worked, what didn't work, and what was just plain crazy.

About a year later, in my local library, my hubby pointed out a book displayed at the front. It was called Big Girl Knits. I'm a big girl (curvy, ok?). And who wrote it? Why, Knitty's own Jillian Moreno and Amy R. Singer. They found me again! And I learned... oh did I learn!

So, Knitty is one of the most wonderful websites I have ever found, and when I meet knitters here and there, they ALL know it. It's like we are all alumni from this great school, like Julliard, or the school in Fame that I can't remember the name of.

Cheers, Knitty! Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication! And if you ever need someone to work for you, well... ahem... waves...

2 comments:

Yay knitty!It's a great place with fabulous people. And about Big Girl Knits... I'm a size 0-2, so not at all big, but I bought the book because it has such great advice on making clothes fit. That's pretty universal -- all girls have butts, boobies, and hips.